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To use them, Boolean operators must be typed in all capital letters.</p> <p>Learn more about the AND, OR, and NOT operators, and how they work on JSTOR, below:</p> <p><a name="and-operator"></a></p> <h2>AND:</h2> <p>AND is the default Boolean operator, and using it will <em>narrow</em> your search results by telling the search engine to return results that have BOTH/ALL search terms present.</p> <p>For example, when you search JSTOR for scholarly content using only the search term "unicorn," the search yields a very large set of results.</p> <p><img src="/hc/article_attachments/4411712820887/BooleanUnicorn.jpg" alt="Boolean search example for unicorn.jpg" /></p> <p>If, for example, you are interested in researching the claim that unicorns appear to maidens, you might refine this set of results further by adding the operator AND along with "maiden” to your "unicorn" search. This will decrease the number of results to review and help you more easily find a relevant article.</p> <p><img src="/hc/article_attachments/4411706637719/BooleanUnicornAND.jpg" alt="Boolean search example for Unicorn AND pegasus" /></p> <p>All 1,386 total results will include both the term “unicorn” and the term “maiden.” </p> <p><a name="or-operator"></a></p> <h2>OR:</h2> <p>Using the OR Boolean operator will expand your search results by telling the search engine to return results that have EITHER/ANY of the search terms present.</p> <p>For exampe, if you wanted to expand your results to include texts that mention unicorns and include results that mention Pegasus as well, the OR operator would expand that search:</p> <p><img src="/hc/article_attachments/4411712830743/BooleanUnicornOR.jpg" alt="Boolean search example for Unicorn OR pegasus" /></p> <p>After using the OR operator, you will return an expanded list of results to review.</p> <p>The OR operator also works well if you want to include multiple synonyms in the same search.</p> <p><a name="not-operator"></a></p> <h2>NOT:</h2> <p>Using the NOT Boolean operator will narrow your search results by telling the search engine to exclude results that have a particular search term present.</p> <p>If you are seeing too many results that are not relevant to their research, finding a common pattern or theme in those results in which you might exclude a term, might be helpful.</p> <p>For example, if you were only looking for scholarship on magical creatures that mentions unicorns or Pegasus, but do not want to see any results that include tapestries, the following query would work: </p> <p><img src="/hc/article_attachments/4411706653719/BooleanUnicornNOT.jpg" alt="Boolean search example for unicorn OR pegasus but NOT tapestry" /></p> <p>This set of results is smaller than the previous one, and no longer includes any content that includes the word, "tapestry." Using NOT in queries let the search engine know that we are not interested in the subsequent terms of the search.</p> <h2 id="booleanparentheses">Parentheses:</h2> <p>When your search query includes multiple Boolean operators, parenthesis are important to help the search engine group them in a way that is relevant for your research.<img src="/hc/article_attachments/4411706663575/BooleanUnicornNOTParentheses.jpg" alt="Boolean search example for maiden AND either Unicorn or pegasus but NOT tapestry" /></p> <p>In the above example, (unicorn OR Pegasus) is a sub-query. By grouping the terms this way, you are telling the search engine which terms must be present and which terms are optional. This eliminates ambiguity for the search engine and ensures that in its results maiden <em>must</em> exist, either <em>unicorn and pegasus may</em> exist, but that the term "tapestry" should <em>not</em> exist.</p> <p> </p></div> </div> </section> <footer> <div class="article-votes"> <span class="article-votes-question">Was this article helpful?</span> <div class="article-votes-controls" role='radiogroup'> <a class="button article-vote article-vote-up" data-helper="vote" data-item="article" data-type="up" data-id="115004733187" data-upvote-count="1149" data-vote-count="1293" data-vote-sum="1005" data-vote-url="/hc/en-us/articles/115004733187/vote" data-value="null" data-label="1149 out of 1293 found this helpful" data-selected-class="null" aria-selected="false" role="radio" rel="nofollow" title="Yes" href="#"></a> <a class="button article-vote article-vote-down" data-helper="vote" data-item="article" data-type="down" data-id="115004733187" data-upvote-count="1149" data-vote-count="1293" data-vote-sum="1005" data-vote-url="/hc/en-us/articles/115004733187/vote" data-value="null" data-label="1149 out of 1293 found this helpful" data-selected-class="null" aria-selected="false" role="radio" rel="nofollow" title="No" href="#"></a> </div> <class="article-votes-count"> <span class="article-vote-label" data-helper="vote" data-item="article" data-type="label" data-id="115004733187" data-upvote-count="1149" data-vote-count="1293" data-vote-sum="1005" data-vote-url="/hc/en-us/articles/115004733187/vote" data-value="null" data-label="1149 out of 1293 found this helpful">1149 out of 1293 found this helpful</span> </div>  <div class="article-more-questions" data-sc="track-contact-submission"> Have more questions? <a href="/hc/en-us/requests/new">Submit a request</a> </div> <div class="article-return-to-top"> <a href="#article-container">Return to top<span class="icon-arrow-up"></span></a> </div> </footer> </article> <section class="article-sidebar" data-sc="track-related-articles">  <h3 class="sidenav-title">Articles in this section</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/360000063528-An-Introduction-to-Searching-on-JSTOR" class="sidenav-item ">An Introduction to Searching on JSTOR</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115004701828-Search-Help-Resources-Overview" class="sidenav-item ">Search Help: Resources & Overview</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/4407698279831-Searching-Browse-Collections" class="sidenav-item ">Searching: Browse Collections</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115004733187-Searching-Boolean-Operators" class="sidenav-item current-article">Searching: Boolean Operators</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115012261448-Searching-Similar-Spellings-Wildcards-and-Proximity" class="sidenav-item ">Searching: Similar Spellings, Wildcards, and Proximity</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115004732567-Searching-Using-Fields-and-Advanced-Search" class="sidenav-item ">Searching: Using Fields and Advanced Search</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/4405598751255-Searching-Using-Filters-and-Facets" class="sidenav-item ">Searching: Using Filters and Facets</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115004581487-Searching-Finding-Content-You-Have-Access-To" class="sidenav-item ">Searching: Finding Content You Have Access To</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115004895568-Searching-for-and-within-Specific-Journals-or-Books" class="sidenav-item ">Searching for and within Specific Journals or Books</a> </li> <li> <a href="/hc/en-us/articles/115004901108-Searching-Finding-a-Specific-Phrase-Title-or-Author" class="sidenav-item ">Searching: Finding a Specific Phrase, Title or Author</a> </li> </ul> <a href="/hc/en-us/sections/360009593274-Searching-on-JSTOR" class="article-sidebar-item">See more</a> </section> </div> </div> </main> <footer id="htmlfooter" class="footer"> </footer> <script> $("#htmlfooter").load("/hc/theming_assets/01JGMAVQXT6EMXEQB98JN7HE35"); </script>  <script src="//static.zdassets.com/hc/assets/en-us.6690a15e63bc14e68b2d.js"></script> <script src="https://ithakasupport.zendesk.com/auth/v2/host/without_iframe.js" data-brand-id="1111017" data-return-to="https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115004733187-Searching-Boolean-Operators" data-theme="hc" data-locale="en-us" data-auth-origin="1111017,true,true"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> /* Greetings sourcecode lurker! 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